Canadian TV producers Frank Peppiatt and John Aylesworth had conceived Hee Haw, named for its cartoon donkey mascot, as a country music version of NBC’s popular Laugh-In that would mix quick-cut, cornball humor with country music. Buck taped the pilot in 1968 and CBS picked it up as a summer replacement for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, canceled due to its controversial anti-war humor during the Vietnam years. CBS picked up a 13 -show option, and at Buck’s recommendation the producers hired singer Roy Clark as co-host. The show premiered Sunday, June 15, 1969.

Hee Haw was so successful during the summer that CBS slotted it into the fall schedule. The Buckaroos served as the house band, and Buck was suddenly getting national exposure on a weekly basis. With him came the top talents in his stable: Buddy Alan, Susan Raye, and the Haggers.

In 1966 Buck and The Buckaroos had their instruments painted red, white and blue, an extension of Buck’s innate patriotism. When these instruments were seen on Hee Haw, guitar manufacturers began making offers to him to market a guitar in those colors. Though Buck used a red, white and blue acoustic guitar built for him by Semie Moseley of Mosrite Guitars, his business sense told him an expensive model of that type wouldn’t sell to the public.

He finally licensed Chicago Musical Instruments (makers of the prestigious Gibson guitars) to market a $99 acoustic model, and received a $2.50 royalty on each sold. He knew that Sears would market them but had no idea they would sell as well as they did --until the first royalty check came. "The very first statement, they sent me $15,000," he laughs. "I said, ‘Oh, you mean THAT Sears!"

During this time, Buck was also filming what may be the first country music videos ever done. He did four tied to his hit singles "Tall Dark Stranger," Sweet Rosie Jones," "Big in Vegas" and "I Wouldn’t Live in New York City (If They Gave Me The Whole Dang Town)." Filmed in 35 millimeter, they were rarely seen, since there were no outlets for playing videos then and cable TV networks didn’t yet exist.

With Buck Owens now a national TV star, Capitol flooded the market with nine LPs between December 1969 and February 1971. Three were reissues of earlier albums, along with a new gospel album, a live album, three new Buck studio albums, and a Christmas LP. One promotion man complained to the label that they were releasing more Buck product than he could ever promote.

In 1971, Buck signed his final four-year contract with Capitol. Following lengthy negotiations, the label gave him something few artists ever received: Ownership of all his Capitol recordings at the end of the contract. He would give the label five years to sell off his albums before he would take ownership in 1980. Such business acumen was routine for Buck and still a rarity at the time among country singers. As Dorothy Owens says, "Buck’s a very bright person. He thinks all the time and he thinks ahead. Buck’s a good businessperson, always thinking to the future and ‘What if?’ He’s always saying that. He invested his money and he didn’t waste it. He didn’t spend it on high living. He’s very comfortable with a moderate way of life."

Buck continued to diversify musically. He followed his 1971 hit recording of Simon and Garfunkel’s "Bridge over Troubled Water" with an LP featuring two more Simon and Garfunkel songs and numbers by folk-rockers Donovan and Bob Dylan. It disturbed Ken Nelson. "The last two years of recording," said Nelson, "Buck tried to get too hep and that is the one thing that I didn’t approve of, and I told him that, too. He was trying to bring his music up to date, to what he thought was ‘the thing.’ but if you’re not yourself, it’s no good."

Thinking back, Buck recalls these musical departures quite differently: "I got to realizing that I wanted to record, I wanted to experiment. And doing those same old songs the same old way--I said, ‘I think it’s time for me to have some fun.’ And so we got into those things and we had quite a bit fun with them too."

CBS dropped Hee Haw in 1971 as the network ended a decade of rural oriented programming, but in syndication the show was more successful that it had ever been with CBS. Buck shifted musical directions again in 1971, adding five string banjoist Ronnie Jackson to the Buckaroos and recording two hit bluegrass numbers: The Osborne Brothers’ "Ruby (Are You Mad)" and "Rollin’ In My Sweet Baby’s Arms." However, in 1972, with the more conventional ballad "Made In Japan," Buck Owens had his final #1 solo recording.

Through 1972 and 1973 he toured, taped Hee Haw twice a year and worked in his studio. His recording career was in decline, his hits being novelties like "Big Game Hunter" and "On the Cover Of The Music City News." Hee Haw’s success in syndication led to the demise of Buck Owens’ Ranch in 1973. In certain markets, TV stations programmed Buck's Show against Hee Haw, whose producers arranged with Buck to end his show. He still owns all 400 Ranch Shows.

It had been a fantastic run -- a decade of unprecedented success. Then one summer morning, Buck Owens suffered a sudden, tragic blow from which it took him years to recover.

Photos 1|2|3|4|5